Egg transferring and sorting trap nest



Oct. 4, 1932. c. c. FORNEY 1,381,122

EGG TRANSFERRING AND SORTING TRAP NEST Filed April 13, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor (Zr: life view a 222W? 1?] .75 1 fiwdolizm.

A Home y 0a. 4, 1932. FORNEY 1,881,122

EGG TRANSFERRING AND SORTING TRAP NEST Filed April 13, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 waoz 'ih A llomcy Oct. 4, 1932. c, c FORNEY 1,881,122

EGG TRANSFERRING AND SORTING TRAP NEST Filed April 13, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 4 Inuenior A llorney Oct. 4, 1932. v c. c. FORNEY 1,881,122

EGG TRANSFERRING AND SORTING TRAP NEST Filed April 15, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 q Invenlor 745/0/ 4 rdfirva :7

r uNirEo sr 'r es' PATENT OFFICE ormrs'rornn t o. roRNEY, or Downs, KANSAS EGG TRANS ERRI'NG'AND sonrme TRAP NEST Application filed April 13,

f This invention relates to an improvedtrap nest of a type designed: to automatically trap a laying hen temporarily to expedite isolation, identification and marking of eggs for well known poultry purposes. a 1

Briefly stated, one structural feature of the invention is predicated upon an arrangement of this classification which embodies an arti ficial or decoy egg located in the nest to entice the hen into; the nest, said decoy eggbeing secured to a trip wire wh'ichserves to automatically drop the trap door for entrapping the hen in thenest for identification and egg'marking purposes.

A further feature of the invention is I founded upon a novel structural means for transferring the eggfrom the nest proper toa receiving compartment for convenient access andsubsequent marking purposes. Afurther advantage is embodied in an arrangement of this class which includes a measuring chute in the receiving compartment wherein said chute is constructed with appurtenances to facilitate the separation of large eggs from small eggs. .Then too, the

inventive conception comprehends anar-' "rangement which in'cludesa fowl entrance serves to automatically actuate the plate for 'A. u so platform, a large egg casting plate in the chute, and an operatingconnectlon between 1 said plateand platform whereby the depressible action. of thefplatform by, the fowl discharging the large eggs into a part of the receiving compartment distinct from that 3 part which receives thesmall eggslso asto facilitate size identification for part cular.

hens.

Other features; 7 and advantages of the in- 'ventionwill become more, readily apparent f'romthe following description andd'rawings.

In'the drawings} "Figure 1 is a front constructed in accordance:with the present i inventive conception,; showin-g the trap door open. I i

Figure 2 is a viewlike Figure 1' showing the trap door dropped to entrance closing; positions V V j. i i

3is a perspective View of'thetrap Figure door itself.

elevation of a trap nest.

1931. Serial. No. 529,872;

Figure 4 is a vertical section on the line H of Figure 1.

livery and egg measuring chute.

Figure 9 is a horizontal section on the line 99 of Figure8.

The nest, which is of single unit form comprises a sheet'metal housing or enclosure, of generalrectangular configuration, though it may beof any other suitable form, is so fashioned as to provide an upper compartment 10 which forms the nest proper.- The roof. or top 11 is inclined to minimize roosting and to shed water and extraneous matter.

The nest-l0 is defined by a substantially horizontal partition 12 which is of dished forination and provided at a predetermined point with an egg discharge opening or hole 13. A closure plate or valve 14 is located beneaththis hole and is hingedly mounted as at 15 and provided with an arm 16 carrying a counter-weight 17 which holds the plate normally in full closing position. It is obvicomes the counter-weight 17 allowing the egg to be dropped down through the hole 13 in a gentle manner. I V

The partition also forms beneath itself an egg receiving and identification, compartment 18 which has an access opening at its front provided with a hingedly mounted screen door 19 to facilitate'removal'and .inspection. Arranged centrally in" this compartment 18 and beneath the hole13 is a channel-shaped member which defines a chute 20.;

This embodies a' relatively inclined bottom portion for causing the egg to gravitate down into the visible portions of the receiving"com part nent 18. In fact, it will be noticed'in' Figures that the bottom wall includes oppositely inclined portions 21 and 22 to. shunt hingedly mounted as :at 29 on a bracket 30;

the large and small eggs to the respective division areas of this compartment 18.

In one side wall of the channel is a ver-' tically elongated clearance slot 23.- In theoppositewall as indicated at 24 is a large egg throw out hole which is designed toper-' I nit separation of the large eggs from athe small eggs. 1

- It will be 'noticed th at the bottom of the channel-shaped chute 20 is transversely curved and located near athe discharge*.end-- of the chute is a similar curved; lifting or casting plate 25 hingedly. mounted along one longitudinal edge adjacent the'hole 24 as indicated at 26. The opposite edge of the plate is provided with warm '27 which extends through the slot 23 and is connected with the lower end of an operating link 28. f This link'28 extends through an opening in the end wall of the lower compartment, and is and the extending outer end portion is fas- 'tened' by a pinand slot connectionas, at31 to one end portion of a depressable rockably' mounted. platform 32. p a v a The platform maybe of any suitable shape and may bemounted hingedly inany prac-- tical way such for instance as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing j 'The 'entra'nce opening 1s indicated at 33 and on opposite sides of this are guides 34- r'eceiving'the end'portions of a guide'rod 35 'c'arried by the lower end portion of the trapdoor 36. -The trap dooris provided with connecting arms 37 hingedlymounted on the 't roof and near the back of the structure as a indicated at as in Figure 4.

"Thede'coy egg, which is of appropriate material, is indicated at39 and'issu'itably attachedto the upstanding end 40 of a trip. wire ll. S This wire includes a perpendicular portionihaving a hinge eye pivotally mounted on a fixture as indicatedfat 42 in Figure 5. a "The: free laterally directed .upperken'd-t3" is engagedbeneathone of the extending end designates the latch or trip element and this portions ojfithe rod as indicated in Figure 1;.

Under normalconditions; the trapdoor elevated, uncovering the entrance opening 33.

Thus,,the hen longing to occupy the nest for laying enters in a customary manner; being partly enticed by theidecoy' egg 39. 'As soon as the'hen sits down :on this egg 39 trip wire 411s actuatedrto releasejthe trap door36, allowing the door to drop down and trap V 'the-heni in thene'st.

The egg laidby the hen gravitates to. the

central part of the depressed partition '12 I andinto and through lthe.hole 13. The clo- ,sure; plate l tallows the egg to dropv down into tothe chute 20. If the egg sufficient ly'small to gravitate down through the relati'vely-l' narrow; channel shaped chute. 20, it 'willro-ll down through said chute. and 'willj lifting plate 25.

resorted to in be deflected by the wing extension 44 as shown in. Figure 8 to'the left hand part of I the compartment 18.

- If the egg is too large to go through the chute, itwill rest in the curved casting or Consequently, when the platform. 32'i s depressed by the fowl, the a 7 operating link'28 will' elevate the free edge portion of the hing'edly mounted ejector'plate V 25 and Wlll throw the egg over intothe right handpart of the :compartment 18 byiway of the relatively large exit hole, 24. a

r Therefore the large eggs will be separated from-the small ones and the screen door 19 V will facilitate inspection" of theparticular size of egg thentrapped in the nest. The

-.trap door may be manually. released and c lifted to allow the hen to escape when the proper identification are completed; v a Some of the'lstructural features areas fol; lows First, the principal parts of theentire structure; are of weather-proof metal designed to minimize accumulation ofvermin and pests, The roof is inclinedto minimize roosting and to better shed the elements.

and marking operations.

The trap door is eflicie ntlin that itisgrav-i ity lowered and manually elevated and 'actu-f ates throughithe mediumiof a trip which ini turn is actuatedwby the "hen setting on the decoy egg; The pa'rtition'12 divides the main bbx'into upper'and 1o erj om art- I ments, namelythe 'nest'proper' andjthe egg dividing and receivingcompartmena j The partition is depressedto'form a convenient and comfortable seat for the hen and Y is apertured to expedite thev transfer of the eggs from the'nest into {the receiving"com-'- partment'by way of the underlying chute'20. 5 Q I The counterweightclosed plate 14 is; impor tant in that it allowsthe egg to be transferred gently from the nest to the chute.

The platform. actuated'means' forfoperafl ing the lifting' plate forcasting or shunting the eggs from'the chute'in'to one partojfthe compartment 18 is important. Then too,"th'e extension wi'ngr t asshown in FigureTS for delivering the small eggs 111w oneshalfj of this compartment 18 islikewise important; In fact, all ofthese details co-operla'te sys;

tematically and mechanically to. produce a;

within thefield ofinventionclaimed may be actual practice if desired."

' fig f iso" -I claim:

m re ng'thy' cri ion 1. A trap nest comprising a housing in cluding nesting means, having a front opening, guides associated with said opening, a gravity lowered trap door including guide rods extending into said guides, a decoy egg arranged in said nest, and an operating cona connected at one end withthe decoy egg and having a laterally directed terminal latch on its opposite end engageable with one of the guide rods on said trap door.

3. In a trap nest construction of the class described, an enclosure provided with a horizontal partition defining upper and lower compartments, the upper compartment forming the nest proper and the lower compartment being adapted for reception of eggs, said partitionbeing of dished formation and formed with an egg discharge opening, a hingedly mounted closure plate for said opening and counter-balance means for maintaining said'plate in a normally closed position so as to permit the eggs to be automatically transferred from the nest into the receiving compartment, and a. receiving chute in sai receiving compartment permitting the eggs to gravitate gently for access, marking and identification purposes, said chute being of a predetermined width so as to allow the free passage of eggs of a relatively small size and to temporarily retain eggs of a large size, one

side wall of the chute being provided with an opening throughwhich the large eggs may be ejected. 7

4c. In a trap nest construction of the class described, an enclosure provided with a horizontal partition defining upper and lower compartments, the upper compartment forming the nest proper and the lower compartment being adapted for reception of eggs, said partition being of dished formation and formed with an egg discharge opening, a hingedly mounted closure plate for said opening and counter-balance means for maintaining said plate in a normally closed position so as to permit the eggs to be automatically transferred from the nest into the receiving compartment, and a receivinglchute in said receiving compartment permitting V the eggs to gravitate gently for access, marking andidentificationpurposes, said chutes I being'of a predetermined width so as to allow mounted in said chute for casting the eggs laterally with respect to the chute into a predetermined part of said receiving compartment by way of said ejecting opening, 5. In a structure of the class described, a housing including a central partition horizontally arranged to define upper and lower compartments, the upper compartment serving as a nest and the lower compartment serving for receiving eggs, a centrally arranged chute mounted in said lower compartment and dividing it into halves, one half for the small eggs and one-half for the large eggs, the small eggs being freely discharged through said chute, one wall of said chute being provided with an ejectinghole through which the large eggs may be ejected and ejecting means hingedly mounted in said chute. 6. In a structure of the class described, a housing including a central partition horizontally arranged to define upper and lower compartments, the upper compartment serving as a nest and the lower compartment serving for receiving eggs, a centrally arranged chute mounted in said lower compartment and dividing it into halves, one half for the small eggs and one half for the large eggs, the small eggs being freely discharged through said chute, one wall of said chute being provided with an ejecting hole through which the large eggs may be ejected and ejecting means hingedly mounted in said chute, and comprising a hingedly mounted plate swingable in a direction toward said ejecting opening, a platform on the exterior I3;

of the nest, and an operating connection between the platform and ejecting plate.

7. In a nest structure of the class described, a housing provided with a nesting plate hav ing an opening and a normally closed closure plate for said opening, a delivery chute mounted beneath said plate and adapted to permit free passage of eggs of a relatively small size and to temporarily hold eggs of a larger size, one wall of said chute having an opening formed therein through whic eggs of the larger size may be ejected, a hingedly mounted ejecting plate mounted in the bottom portion of said chute and cooperable with said opening, a hingedly mounted eXtethe'free passage of'eggs of a relatively small 4 size and to temporarily retain eggs of a large size, one side wall ofthe chute being provideggs ma'y be ejected, and ejecting means red with an opening through which the large 

